Nothing's What It Seems
by smoke-filled-sighs
Summary: Modern AU. Éponine just wants to survive, Enjolras wants to make a difference, Cosette wants to protect her father, and Marius wants to be more than his family name. Things get messy as interests conflict and motives collide. It'll all hit close to home as Detective Javert continues his search for a murderer while students plan to rally against the outdated government. É/E, M/C.
1. Chapter 1

Éponine walked through the busy club, a tray of empty glasses balanced on her one hand. Her long dark brown locks were tastefully curled and and dropped down over her bare shoulders. She didn't wear much, just a black corset over top a short silky skirt that displayed her legs where she wore fishnet thigh highs that were attached to garters that peeked out from under her skirt.

She weaved her way through the club easily balancing on her four inch heels. She took a deep breath as she went to walk by one of the men she had been waiting on, the one who was looking at her like she was a piece of meat. The breath slowly escaped from her lips with relief that he didn't want to order anything, but she stopped in her tracks when she felt his hand on her ass. She rolled her eyes before putting on a smirk and turning around to wink at the man.

Sometimes she had to remind herself that she endured this for her little brother. She could easily find another job, but none would pay enough for her to take care of herself and Gavroche. Her tips kept food on the table, and her rapport with the gentlemen customers stopped her father from asking too many questions about her need for the money.

Her smile dropped immediately when she turned away and walked over to the bar, setting down her tray in frustration.

"Relax," Monteparnasse said taking the glasses from the tray, "You know your father's rules."

"Always appear interested," Éponine said with a look of disgust, "And you know not to refer to him as that."

"As what he is?"

She gave him a pointed look but he only chuckled and went to tend to a customer at the other side of the bar. The last thing she wanted was for any costumers to know she was the owner's daughter or that she was a minor. Though her birthday was in a month, she wasn't legally allowed to work there and her father picks and chooses his battles. With a brothel in the back, he can't be caught with a seventeen year old minor serving alcohol.

"Some new guys just sat down in your section Éponine," Monteparnasse said and she turned to see three young men sitting down at one of the tables, "Remember lose the sneer and be charming."

"I know what to do," she spat before grabbing her tray and letting out a breath. He shook his head with a smirk as she took a step back and turned around.

As she approached the table, she found that the mend certainly were young and even a little handsome. They were all talking and some were laughing as she came around and stood in front of the table.

"Bonsoir Messieurs," she said with a smirk as all their eyes flickered up to her. Most of them looked her up and down, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I can think of a few things," the curly haired man said and the one next to him elbowed him.

"Grantaire!"

Éponine only chuckled and leaned forward to rest her hands on the table, giving them an even better view of her cleavage which all of them indulged in for a few moments, "I'm sure you have quite the imagination too. Don't you, Monsieur?"

"I am very creative," he said with a smirk. The two other men shook their heads but Éponine was just genuinely amused.

"Don't mind him," the dark haired one next to him said, "he's harmless."

"Let me just reign in some of that creativity then, if you don't mind," she perked an eyebrow, "What can I get you three lovely men to drink?"

Grantaire laughed a little bit before ordering his drinks followed by his two friends, Joly and Marius. Courfeyrac was the one who scolded Grantaire before snickering at the exchange. Marius was more quiet and therefore caught her attention more. He had such a genuine face and looked her in the eyes when she spoke to him, but not as though he was forcing himself to in order to be respectful.

"Those boys look well off," Thénardier observed as Monteparnasse poured their drinks, "Do make sure to treat them well, Éponine." She knew what he was telling her to do and part of her didn't want to because of how nice this group of men seemed. With a nod of her head she grabbed her tray and walked back over to the group.

"Voila," she said as she passed out their drinks before against leaning forward on the table, "I don't think I've seen you boys here before."

"It would be our first time here," Courfeyrac said with a charming smile.

"In celebration of Marius's birthday!" Grantaire lifted his glass excitedly.

"Oh a birthday!" Éponine stood straight and walked around the table to where Marius was sitting, her finger gliding on the table as she walked. She gave him a smile before sliding down into his lap. He seemed confused and unsure of what to do but his hand went around her hips to stop her from falling, "We love a good birthday here."

She gave him a warm smile, "How old are you , mon cher?"

He cleared his throat and met her eyes, this time making sure to avoid letting them wander anywhere else, "I've just turned 21, mademoiselle."

"Please," she ran a finger gingerly down his cheek, "My name is Éponine."

"Éponine," he corrected himself and smiled back at her.

"Tell me, Monsieur," she said glancing up at the other two who were watching with amused smirks, "Do you have a special lady?"

"I-I don't," he hesitated like he was unsure of her reasoning behind the question.

"Wonderful, then I can give you a birthday present," she said gliding her finger down his cheek and under his chin to lean his head up so she could capture his lips with her own. It was a soft kiss, and she was surprised when he didn't kiss her back eagerly like any other man at the club would. His lips responded to her but with equal tenderness, something she wasn't use to in the least.

"Joyeux anniversaire, Monsieur Marius," she said with a sweet smile.

"Merci, Éponine," he said softly still wearing a small look of surprise.

"Why didn't we come here on my birthday?" Courfeyrac leaned over and asked Grantaire who was staring with the rim of his glass on his lips.

"Can I say it's my birthday too?" Was his only answer.

Éponine broke the kiss with a smirk and looked over at the other two men, "Je suis désolé, Messieurs." She chuckled a little bit as her hand glided up and down Marius's chest. She could feel his wallet and skimmed over it because realizing she couldn't bring herself to take anything. With a soft sigh, she stood up and resigned herself to whatever punishment her father would deal her later on.

"If you gentlemen need anything else, just let me know," She said with a small smirk.

Marius looked up at her with a sincere smile and elbowed Grantaire as if he knew his friend would say something crude. She looked down at the curly haired man and gave him a warm smile before leaning over the table. She saw his eyes dart to the new view of her curves before his eyes flicked back up to hers as she kissed him sweetly on the cheek. She looked at Courfeyrac who raised his hand to halt any of her movements and instead to her hand in his to place a kiss to the back of it.

She couldn't help but giggle at the gesture, "I think you boys are my favorite customers here yet. Enjoy the show."

"We'd enjoy it more if it were you up there," Courfeyrac said with a charming smile as he released her hand.

"Oh I'm sure you would," Éponine gave Marius one last glance before picking up her tray, "I'm afraid you'll have to use your imaginations for that though."

"I do have a creative one, remember?" Grantaire called as she walked away causing her to turn and regard him with a chuckle.

"No sneer?" Montparnasse questioned with a perked eyebrow as she came over to the bar.

"No," Éponine shrugged, "They were actually pretty sweet."

"Oh yes, I saw just how sweet the one gent was," he smirked when she shook her head at his words, "Did you get anything?"

Éponine tried not to hesitate, "There was nothing to get."

He regarded her with a questioning look and she just let out a soft sigh before picking her tray back up and returning to the floor. She would constantly stop to engage in amusing conversations with the three men and they would be nothing but nice. They were even completely respectful of her. No wondering hands or vulgar words came from them. Only light hearted jokes and pleasant conversation. Especially from Marius, who she found to be the kindest of them. They stayed until closing, howling at the dancers and getting completely drunk.

"Do I need to call you three a cab?" Éponine asked when Marius came up to her seat at the bar and leaned against her chest.

"I think that would be the best idea," Courfeyrac answered as he shook a snoring Grantaire causing him to fall from his chair. Marius started laughing but then hummed at Éponine's fingers that ran through his hair. She didn't even realize she was doing it, it was something she always did for Gavroche when he was younger.

Grantaire jumped from the ground appearing to be very alert, "Marius!" The brunette's head snapped up and Éponine felt a small ache at the lack of warmth.

"Stop hogging our new waitress friend," he ordered causing Éponine to giggle.

"Éponine," Marius slurred before falling into the bar seat next to her, "she has a name remember?"

"We're closing" Thénardier announced walking towards them.

"I know," Éponine said turning away from them, "I'm just calling them a cab."

"You lads have paid, right?" Thénardier turned to ask the men and Éponine just rolled her eyes as she ordered the cab.

"That we have," Courfeyrac said.

"It should be here in a few minutes," Éponine said hopping down from her bar stool.

Her father looked at her and narrowed his eyes. She glanced over at Monteparnasse who simply looked away.

"I'm sure you three won't mind waiting for it outside," her father said and the three men looked at him. Grantaire looked dazed, Courfeyrac looked confused, and Marius looked uncertain.

"We really need to clean everything up," Thénardier simply said. They all looked at Éponine who offered them a warm smile.

"Bonne nuit," she said trying to hide any fear she was experiencing from her father's cold gaze.

Courfeyrac took her hand and again gently placed a kiss on the back of it, "Bonne nuit, Mademoiselle Éponine."

She smiled almost shyly this time as she felt the eyes of her father on her. The three of them cleared out after saying their goodbyes to her and now she was left alone with Monteparnasse and her father.

"You didn't get anything?!" He snapped.

"There was nothing to get," Éponine offered as an explanation only to stagger back as the back of his hand hit her cheek. She held her face and looked up at him with guilty eyes. Part of her wished that she could be surprised at occurrences like this.

"Do not take me for a fool Éponine," he barked, "and if I catch you pulling stunts like that kiss without getting something from it, I'll make sure you regret it."

"I'm sorry," she surrendered glancing Monteparnasse who was just leaning on the bar watching. Her father just shook her head and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the bar before making his way back up to his office. Eponine started to nibble on her bottom lip as she turned towards the bar and looked down. She felt a hand on her cheek and let out a hiss as a finger ran over the mark that was probably forming. She looked up to meet Monteparnasse's eyes.

"Best make sure you cover that up for your shift tomorrow," he said simply. Éponine couldn't help but wonder what happened to her friend. Every time something like this happened she wanted to believe she saw a flicker of his old self, but he stopped being there for her a long time ago.

"I know," she said pulling her face from his hand, "I always do."

**A/N This little plot has been in my head for a while now and it's based around é/e, but involves a lot more than At The Beginning did. I'm really excited to get it started finally. Do not fret, our marble leader will be appearing in the next chapter and things will get good. Enjoy :) Also, don't kill me for the kiss. I had to do it, but trust me when I say enjonine is the main pairing in this fic.**


	2. Chapter 2

Marius came to visit her a few times over the next two weeks, making work that much more bearable. Every now and then Courfeyrac would show up with him and the pair would make sure to sit in her section. It always made the night go by faster and then they would insist on taking her to a diner after her shifts. It gave her an excuse to leave immediately upon closing and then she could go straight back to her apartment afterwards, giving her father time to get so drunk he wouldn't remember wanting her to steal from them.

Éponine was back in the dressing room helping some of the dancers get ready, hearing them snicker and complain about any customers they had lined up for the night. Her father's true business here use to send chills down her spine, but she eventually became numb to it.

"Éponine," her mother called from the doorway, "We need to speak with you."

She finished fashioning up the corset for the dancer she was helping and then turned to join her parents in the hallway, "What is it?"

"Your birthday is next week," her father started and she perked an eyebrow, "Meaning it's time for a promotion."

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped a little, "I don't want..."

"Doesn't matter what you want," he said. Her eyes flicked to her mother who stood behind him shrugging.

"Besides," she spoke up stepping forward, "You'd make us a pretty penny with the way some of those rich ones seem to like you."

"What?" Éponine raised her voice, "I will definitely not be that kind of dancer!"

"You will be whatever I want you to be," Thénadier snapped stepping towards her, "Unless you want to end up back in our house and out of the privacy of that little apartment."

"I pay my own rent!" Éponine yelled. Yet again she felt her father's hand against her face, this time causing her to fall to the ground. She brought her hand to her face and looked up at her parents. Her mother was pursing her lips and her father was glaring down at her.

"You know I have my ways, Éponine," He said before leaning down to grab her and pull her up. His grasp on her wrist was tight but she refused to show any fear, "You will dance come your birthday and I will arrange for your first customer. I trust Monteparnasse took that virginity of yours a while ago."

She cringed a little bit. Even if she was still a virgin, her father would still sell it to someone. She pulled her arm from his grasp with a grunt and only glared at him. There was no point in arguing. If they try to take her home, they'll find Gavroche and both of them would end up paying.

"Now be a good girl and tidy yourself up," he said stepping back, "We're opening soon."

A couple hours later, she was making her rounds to each table wearing a smile as fake as ever. She tried to cover up what was now a slight black eye, but she was sure some of it still showed from under the make up. She put drinks down for two men who nodded towards her but otherwise ignored her. She rolled her eyes and turned to see Marius walking through the entrance of the club.

He saw her and a smile spread on his lips, causing one to appear on her's as well. She tried to peek over the crowd and caught glimpses of Courfeyrac and Grantaire as well. As they started walking toward their section, she quickly tried to make sure her hair was covering the bruise near her eye. She walked over but hesitated slightly when she saw they brought more of their friends. Éponine took in a deep breath and walked over to them. This time she was wearing a dark green corset over a pair of black silk ruffle shorts. Sheer stockings covered her long legs which her heel black ankle boots enhanced the look of. Her dark brown hair was down and her soft curls bounced around her shoulders.

"Welcome back boys," she said as she approached the table. She leaned forward over Courfeyrac's shoulder and gave him a chaste kiss to the cheek then stood back up as Marius stood to give her a small hug. She found over the time they had spent together the past two weeks that she would get this fluttering feeling in her stomach when he touched her. She saw Grantaire sitting between two of the new guys and leaned over the table to plant a small kiss on his cheek as well.

"Éponine," he smirked, "Just as lovely as the last time I saw you."

"I think you're just drunker, Monsieur," she chuckled as she stood straight up, "Have a few pre-club drinks again?"

She chuckled a bit as he shrugged in response before turning to Courfeyrac who grabbed her hand gently to put a soft kiss against the back of it, "Is this our thing now?"

"Seems like it, Mademoiselle," Courfeyrac leaned back in his seat, "And Grantaire is right, green really suits you."

She smile and shook her head, "Such a charmer you are."

He gave her a big smile, but her gaze fell on the blonde next to him. His hair was loosely slicked back and she could see the bright blue of his eyes even under the dark light of the club. He was handsome, very handsome. What really caught her attention was that he was the only one who didn't seem excited to be there and that he was the only one who hadn't looked over her body. His eyes were narrowed as he looked over her face before the dropped down to the table, not even lingering at all on any curve on her body.

She turned to Marius who was standing beside her, "Might I ask for a quick introduction to everybody?"

"Oh, right, of course," he cleared his throat and looked around the table. The first one he pointed out was Jehan, who was sitting on the end next to Grantaire. He wore a white button up shirt with a light green vest with ivory and pink floral designs embroidered in it. Next, on the other side of Grantaire, was Bathorel. He had a dark brown leather jacket on over a white tee shirt, he had a badass quality to him. On the other side of Marius's empty seat was Bossuet, probably the only man she'd seen that was attractive with a bald head, who Marius warned her was very unlucky. Finally he came to the blonde who's eyes were back on her face.

"This is Enjolras," Marius said and Éponine looked him over against. He had a black jacket on over a red button up. His expression remained stoic and unenthused.

"You don't seem very excited to be here," she stated and he shrugged before looking around the club.

"Don't mind the marble statue," Grantaire said bring a flash to his lips, "he's allergic to fun."

"I think he came to the wrong place then," she said her eyes never leaving Enjolras, his eyes finally flicking back to meet her gaze.

"I couldn't agree more," he said simply. She tilted her head with a confused expression but the indifference never left his face. She only looked away when Grantaire cleared his throat.

"I love chatting with you dear Éponine," he smiled, "but may I order my drink now?"

"You literally have a flask in your hand," Bathorel said looking down at the silver object.

"Yes, but it's almost empty," Grantaire replied looking at his friend.

Éponine chuckled causing both of them to look back at her, "It is my job. What can I get you tonight, Grantaire?"

Once she got all their orders she made her way to the bar to tell Monteparnasse their order. The way he smirked when she walked up to him told her that he had been watching the entire exchange.

"They must like you," he said, "They even brought more friends."

She just rolled her eyes and leaned against the bar, "Two scotches on the rocks, one whiskey, one bourbon, one water, and... one screwdriver."

"Wait," he said as he pulled up the bottles, "Did you say water?"

She snorted, "Yes, apparently one them doesn't like drinking."

"Just here for the show then?" He started to make the drinks.

"I don't think so," he looked up at her with a confused expression and she shrugged, "He just doesn't seem really fond of the idea of even being here. I think they all dragged him here."

He let out a humph noise before continuing to mix the drinks, "I heard about your promotion."

Éponine sighed and looked down. She was just starting to get in a good mood, "Did my father ask just how much you got from me when we were together?"

"I thought you didn't like referring to him as your father?" He mused and she glared at him.

"Just hurry up with the drinks," she ordered.

"Maybe if you just get something from them, your father won't want to sell you," he offered as he set the drinks on her tray.

"There's nothing to get," she said shortly, "as I've already said."

"Right," he said shaking his head. She let out a frustrated sigh and picked the tray up, turning on her heel and making her way to the table. She never had a problem playing the pickpocket because most of the costumers were pigs, but these men were nice and they didn't treat her like dirt. Yet. She let out another sigh right before colliding with someone. Her tray came up and the hit her chest, some of the drink spilling on her and one glass tipped off and fell over the shoulder of the man next to her. She heard the glasses collide with the floor along with her tray when it slipped from her hands.

"Shit!" she yelled and looked up to see Bossuet standing there, mouth dropped in shock.

"I'm so sorry," he tried but she turned to see Enjolras standing up with the glass in his hand.

"I'm sorry," she said to him as he went to shake the liquid off his hand. She didn't realize how she flinched away when he raised his hand, but he definitely did. He furrowed his brow at the movement, but she just shook her head and squatted down to pick up the mess. Both the other two men joined her. She looked up almost breathless at the blonde man in squatting in front of her. He tilted his head as he looked at her.

"What happened to your eye?" he questioned, his hand looking like it was about to reach out to her.

Her hand instantly went up to pull her hair over where the bruise was and she shook her head, "It's nothing."

"What happened here," Éponine froze at her father's voice and sucked in a deep breath as his shoes came into her view. Enjolras and Bossuet both stood, but she just looked up as she continued putting the glass on the tray. By now the rest of the table was watching.

"It was my fault," Bossuet started, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Nonsense," Thérnadier dismissed him, "I'm sure Éponine saw you and had time to get out of the way."

He looked down at her and she glanced up at the unlucky man, "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," he said with a furrowed brow and then he looked back to her boss, "It really wasn't her fault."

"Don't you worry about it, Monsieur," Thernadier said dismissing him yet again and looking down at his daughter, "The cost of the drinks and glasses will come out of your paycheck for the week."

"That won't be necessary," she heard the strong voice of Enjolras speak up. He pulled out his wallet and held out some money, "This should cover it."

Thérnadier perked and eyebrow and smiled, "If you insist Monsieur."

"I do," Enjolras handed him the money.

"Éponine," she looked up at her father, "Once you're done cleaning this up, go and get yourself cleaned up too."

She only nodded and looked down to continue picking all the glass up as carefully and fast as she could. She saw his shoes leave her sight and let out a breath of relief.

"Careful 'Ponine," Marius said as he crouched down beside her to help her, "You'll cut yourself."

She was too flustered and knew what could happen tonight. Either her dad would punish her or he'd try and force her to get everything she could from Enjolras after displaying he did in fact have plenty to take. Other hands were now joining her eye sight and helping her pick up the glass.

"Damn Ep," she heard Courfeyrac in front of her, "Your boss is a piece of work."

She stayed silent and saw the hesitation in the hands but they all continued helping her until all the shards were on her tray. She stood up and saw that only Courfeyrac, Bossuet, Marius, and Enjolras were helping because there wasn't enough room for the other three who were all standing as though they'd be willing to help.

"Look at all you lovely gentlemen," she mused, "just ready to swoop in to help a lady in need."

"You boss is a dick," Bathorel said sitting back down.

"Tell me something I don't know," Éponine smirked and then turned to look over Enjolras, "I'm sorry about your shirt."

He had taken off his jacket to reveal the darkened wet fabric of the shoulder area of his red button up shirt. He glanced up at her and just gave her a slightly nod before folding his jacket and placing it over the back of his chair.

"... Okay," she said shaking her head, "Well, I'm sure another waitress will be around with your drinks. I have to throw this out and then get changed."

She glanced over at Marius and Courfeyrac for a second before giving Bossuet a warm smile so he knew she wasn't mad at him. A few minutes later she was in the dancers' dressing room trying to find something else to wear. Her eyes fell on a black, leather strapless dress and she hastily pulled it from the rack. She removed her corset and shorts, letting them slip down her legs and kicking them to the side. That was one of her favorite corsets, if the liquor ruined the satin she might have to make Bossuet pay. Finally she slipped the dress on and zipped it up. It was tight, very tight. She looked at her reflection in the full length mirror and nodded with a shrug at how it pushed her boobs up and accentuated her curves.

She pulled her hair to drape over one shoulder as she left the dressing room.

"Éponine!," she turned around and saw Enjolras coming from the direction of the restrooms. She perked an eyebrow at the lack of his red button up shirt which he was now clutching in his hand. Instead he was wearing a black, v-neck tee shirt that was able to show the muscles in his arms as well as he's lean torso.

"'This didn't get as wet," he offered detecting her curiosity.

She nodded, "Sorry, again."

"It wasn't your fault," he dismissed her apology with that same indifferent expression, "I was stopping you because your dress isn't zipped up all the way."

She moved her shoulders, feeling the looseness of the zipper, "As if this dress wasn't tight enough."

"Isn't a corset tighter?" he raised an eyebrow when she only shrugged he stepped forward, "Do you need me to...?"

"Please," she turned her back on him, "I guess I couldn't reach all the way."

"No problem." he mutter as he stepped forward. She could feel his warm breath near her skin, but he obviously kept his distance as he finished doing up her dress for her. She looked over her shoulder, "Thank you."

He gave her another nod and she looked him up and down, "You didn't have to pay for that. It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't yours either," he replied with a shrug.

"I work here," she argued, "It's never the customers fault."

"I always hate that midset," he rolled his eyes, "I was just trying to do you a favor and save you some money."

"Well I didn't ask you to," she snapped. She wasn't angry with him really, she was mad at the situation. That and she hated when people offered her charity, even if she needed the money to take care of Gavroche. She could've taken care of it somehow.

He narrowed his eyes at her and studied her again. She just sighed and turned to walk away, she only got to the end of the hallway when his next words caused her to freeze.

"You might want to put more make up on that black eye," he suggested before walking up to her. She winced a little bit when he reached out to touch the bruised area. It wasn't a tender touch like she imagined Marius would've been, but it was considerately gentle.

"I don't know as much as Bathorel might," his eyes looked at the bruise in the dark light, "but that should clear up in a few days."

"I know," she said, her eyes snapping up to look at him a few moments later. His indifferent expression was replaced by a perked eyebrow and wide eyes. Her words and tone indicated that this wasn't her first time with a black eye, not even close.

"Crowds these days can be crazy," she chuckled trying to recover from the subtle confession. He didn't say as his expression returned to an indifferent one, but she saw a flicker of sympathy in his eyes. Without another word she walked past him and back to the dressing room to try and cover up the bruise better.

**A/N Wow, so I'm incredibly overwhelmed by all the favorites and follows and very appreciative of the reviews. Cosette will be introduced soon and so will Javert. I have a lot of work this week so I can't make any promises for the next chapter but it will be up as soon as I can get it up. One more thing, I do post snippets of chapters I'm working on on my tumblr. It's all tagged with NWISFIC, so if I'm taking too long to update you can check that tag on my blog.**


	3. Chapter 3

Éponine groaned as she was pulled from her slumber by the thumping in the hallway. With a deep breath she rolled over and looked at the clock on the bedside table. 9 O'Clock. That makes four hours of sleep. She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. After the incident last night, her boss made her stay a whole two hours late to not only clean up the club but to so the laundry from the brothel side, an extremely unpleasant task.

She rolled out of bed and pulled her tank top down along with her pajama shorts that must of ran up while she was sleeping. After an extended yawn she made her way from the bedroom, pulling her hair up into a loose, messy bun. Her eyes narrowed at the empty couch and wondered where her brother was. Her thoughts were interrupted by another thump from the hallway. With a small growl she opened the door to see what was going on.

"Gavroche?" She asked watching him walk down the hallway, her eyes falling on the box in his hands, "What's that? What are you doing?"

"Relax," he responded casually, "I'm helping our new neighbor move on."

She furrowed her brow and watched him walk past her, "New neighbor?" The door at the end of the hallway suddenly opened and she watched as a blonde came through trying to balance two boxes in her arms. Éponine quickly joined her and took the top box from her arms.

"Here, let me help."

"Thank you," the girl's blue eyes met her and she smiled, "You must be Éponine."

"The one and only," she answered and turned to walk down the hall, "and I take it your the new neighbor."

"Cosette," the blonde offered, "My father and I are moving into the apartment next to yours."

Èponine looked the girl up and down. She was dressed nicely and looked clean and healthy. She didn't look like someone who would live in this building.

"Where are you two from?" She asked as Gavroche held the door open for them.

"Here originally," she answered putting the box down on the ground, "but we moved away when I was little to Montreuil."

"Why'd you come back?" She asked setting down her own box.

"Because Cosette wanted nothing more than to go to a university in Paris," an older man said entering the apartment carrying three boxes without breaking a sweat.

"You must be her father," Éponine commented taking his wealthy looking appearance. She couldn't wrap her head around why they were living here.

"I am," he answered and looked her over, "What's your name?"

"Uhm, I'm Éponine," she answered hesitantly noticing his questioning gaze. His mouth dropped a little at her answer causing her and Gavroche to look at each other and then back at him.

"What happened to your face, child?" he asked changing the topic. She internally groaned at her carelessness. She didn't take the time to cover it up with make up before leaving the apartment.

"I work at a club and a fight broke out last night," she answered casually with a shrug, "Stupid me thought I could break it up all by myself."

He tilted his head as he looked at her and Cosette leaned over to get a look too, "It doesn't look too bad."

"It's really not," Éponine chuckled. She let out a sigh as Gavroche shook his head and left the apartment.

"How long have you lived here?" Cosette's father asked, "You don't look very old."

"I'm seventeen," she answered, "Been here about a year."

"And you don't live with your parents?"

"They're dead, Monsieur," she said without hesitation. It was one of the most ongoing lies she told, "It's just Gavroche and I."

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said with an nod of his head and Cosette's big eyes looked sad.

"I wouldn't call it a loss," she said with a shrug, "and I don't know if you would call them parents." She cleared her throat and walked towards the door, "It was nice meeting the two of you. I hope you settle in okay."

With that she was out of their apartment and quickly back inside her own. She quickly walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. The bruise looked worse than it did the night before, but that was expected. She just wished she wasn't so stupid and covered it up before anyone saw her. Maybe they'd just see through it like that Enjolras guy did.

"It was dad, wasn't it?" she turned to see Gavroche standing in the doorway.

"Gav.. it's nothing. There was a fight at the club," she offered but the little boy didn't look convinced.

"Why'd he do it this time?"

She let out a frustrated but defeated sigh, "He wants to promote me next week."

"He wants you to be a dancer?" She only nodded at his question, "Does that mean he wants you to be a whore too?"

"Gavroche!" she scolded but the boy just rolled his eyes.

"It's a little too late to shelter me from the ways of the world," he pointed out. He was young, almost twelve, but knew more about the world than most adults, "Are you going to do it?"

"I said no," she answered pointing at her eye.

"Why don't you just quit?"

"Because someone has to pay for this apartment," she said walking out of the bathroom and into the living room, "And someone has to look after you."

"I can look after myself," he said defensively, "it's not as though I haven't before."

"I know," she let out another sigh, "It took me two years to find you and I'm not going to let you go live on the streets again. You're a little boy."

"I come and go as I please as it is," he protested.

"Maybe so, but at least I know you have shelter and food here," Éponine said, "You don't worry about anything having to do with dad, okay? Leave him to me."

"He'd beat your ass if he found out I'm living with you."

"I don't care," she countered before walking into the kitchen area, "Now. What do you want for breakfast?"

* * *

It was around seven when Eponine got her stuff and was about to leave for work. Gavroche was planted in front of the television with his dinner. At least he wasn't running around on the streets. She picked up her bag and walked out of the apartment, freezing a bit when she heard the voice of Detective Javert. She cursed under her breath a little and quickly closed and locked the door behind her. When she turned around she saw him talking to Cosette who just kept shaking her head at him. With a roll of her eyes, Éponine walked down towards the two of them.

"Hello detective," she put on one of her famous fake smiles.

"Éponine," he sighed, "Been a while. Staying out of trouble lately?"

She shrugged and then looked between him and Cosette, "Grilling the new tenant already?"

"I don't understand what you want," Cosette spoke up causing both of them to look at her, "I told you. My father isn't home and I've never seen the man from the photograph."

"Wouldn't this be harassment Detective Javert?" Éponine spoke up with a smug grin.

"How are your parents, Mademoiselle Thénadier," he asked causing her to shut up, "Did you ever find your brother?"

She narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. She could feel Cosette's eyes on her and knew she'd have to explain some how.

"Who are you looking for?" she questioned trying to just ignore his questions. He sighed and held the picture out to her. It was most definitely Cosette's father, but without a glance to the blonde Éponine shrugged and shook her head.

"I haven't seen him around here, sir." she answered and looked up at the man, "You must be looking in the wrong place."

He looked between the girls before his eyes settled on Cosette, "I'm sorry for any trouble."

"It's alright," she replied politely.

"Éponine," he said with a nod and began to walk past her. She watched him exit the hall and heard his footsteps echo down the stairs. After making sure he was gone she turned back to the blonde and crossed her arms.

"Your dad's a wanted man?"

"It's complicated," she defended, "and he's innocent."

"Of what?" the brunette tilted her head.

"It's not important."

"Kind of is since I could go to jail for obstruction of justice," Éponine pointed out plainly.

"And kidnapping," Cosette said standing tall causing Éponine to tense a little, "but I'm not going to ask why you have your brother who's apparently been missing and why you go around claiming your parents are dead."

She take aback a little bit but after a few moments a small smirk twitched at the edge of her lips, "Fair enough."

"Thank you," Cosette added as she relaxed a little bit, "For not saying anything."

"You too," Éponine replied. She didn't know what trouble this whole thing could cause, but she knew that turning them in would cause even more trouble for her and Gavroche.

**A/N I know it's short, but a short update is better than no update right? Next chapter is when things get fun. Mehehe. Enjoy and thank you for all the kind reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

Éponine pursed her lips at her reflection, her exposed skin causing her to grimace almost. She had gone shopping the day before with her younger sister for some new things to wear on stage. What she usually wore as a waitress wasn't revealing enough and would be harder to dance in. She frowned at the thought of the new promotion she didn't even want and she chewed on her lower lip as she stared at the outfit. If you could call it that. The jeweled leather bra with a matching mini skirt that had a slit going all the way up to the waistband, barely concealing what underwear she would be wearing underneath it. It wasn't like she was uncomfortable in her skin or that the thought of showing off her body bothered her. It was that she didn't have a choice and that after tonight, her father would end up setting up her first engagement with her very first client. That thought alone was enough to make her feel sick. A sudden knock at the door caused her to jump a little bit.

"Hold on," she yelled through the apartment as she made her way to her room to strip off the leather material and replace it with pajama pants and a tank top, "One minute." She tripped a little as she pulled on the pants while trying to walk down the hallway. Out of breath she opened the door and her sight was filled with pink and white roses with a familiar freckled face holding them.

"Happy birthday!," Marius exclaimed excitedly.

"Marius," she giggled a little bit and took the roses from him, sniffing them a little before looking back up at the man in front or her, "How'd you know where I live?"

"I have my sources," he answered stepping to the side to make way for Gavroche who strode into the apartment while stuffing a muffin into his mouth.

"Gav?"

"What?," the little boy shrugged, "I met him at Musain."

"Where you hang around with all those activists?," she nearly scoffed, but Gavroche tilted his head in the direction of the doorway with an amused smile. Her eyes slowly trailed back over to settle on her friend's face, a small smirk crept on her lips, "You're an activist."

"Kind of," he scratched the back of his head, "I met them all through Courfeyrac and got swept up in Enjolras's crusade."

"His crusade," she asked bringing her hand to her mouth in mock surprise.

"Shocking, isn't it?" He chuckled as he looked her over, "Gavroche hangs around Courf a lot and overheard me talking about your birthday. I had to bribe him with a muffin to find out where you lived."

"A muffin," she questioned looking back at her little brother who was planted on the floor watching T.V. She shook her head with an amused expression and turned back to her guest who was still looking her over, "See something you like, Monsieur?"

"Ew," Gavroche said from behind her causing her to roll her eyes before smirking up at Marius.

"It's just," he cleared his throat and paused as if trying to find the right words to say, "No disrespect, but I don't think I've seen you wearing so much."

His eyes flicked up to meet hers and she chuckled at his words, "Well don't look so disappointed."

"It's just different," he countered with a shy smile, "Not in a bad way or anything. Of course."

"Oh really?" She leaned forwards towards him a bit, ready to suggest he wish her a happy birthday the way she did three weeks prior when they first met. A sound from down the hall caused his attention to drift from her, causing her to take a step back before looking over to see what it was. Cosette came walking from her doorway talking on her phone, and flashed Éponine a smile accompanied by a wave. She returned the smile until her she noticed the way the blonde smiled at the man between them and how Marius's gaze lingered on her as she walked by. They followed her movements until she looked back one last time at him before heading down the stairs. The brunette seemed invisible as she watched the exchange, and a soft pang of jealousy came over her.

"'Ponine," Marius said turning back to her, her eyes flicking up to meet his, "Who was that?"

"My..." she cleared her throat, "My new neighbor. Cosette."

"Cosette," he said with a nod like he was trying out how it sounded on his tongue, "She's beautiful."

Éponine refused to show any signs of her jealously, but her face fell a little bit in disappointment. No, she didn't know Marius all that long and her feelings for him were ones that were still developing. But she did like him, and she had thought he was interested in her too.

"Yeah," she muttered looking down at the ground for a second as she tried to ignore whatever she was feeling, "Do you want to come in for some lunch?"

"What?," Marius asked shaking his head like he was being snapped out of his own thoughts, "Oh no, I need to get back to the Musain or Enjolras will have my head."

"I thought you were only kind of an activist?," the brunette mused, feeling more normal than a few seconds ago.

"There is no 'kind of' with him," Marius chuckled before leaning forward to kiss her gently on the cheek, "Happy birthday 'Ponine."

"Thank you," she said wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug which he returned happily.

"I'll be seeing you," he said with a sly smile like he was planning something as he started walking backwards down the hall.

She perked an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions. She just pointed down the hall, "Go before the marble statue demands your head."

He laughed a little, the sound causing some butterflies to erupt in her stomach. With a nod he continued walking down the hall and soon was heading down the stairs. She closed the door and turned to smell the roses in her head once more. At least she had something to make her smile when she had to go to work.

* * *

Enjolras looked around as he sat alone at one of the tables uncomfortably. He wasn't terribly excited to revisit the burlesque club, but he last visit provided what would be the subject to his next anonymous article. Few people knew about his anonymous publishing about the dirty business in town, but the masses seemed to listen more to the articles he posted online. He had always heard the rumors about this place and that there was a whole other business being run behind the scenes. Drugs and prostitution, but there was never any proof to back it up. Now there was a waitress with a black eye who seemed scared of her own boss. It was reason enough for him to try and get to the bottom of what all was going on.

The girl was no where to be found now though. A new one brought him his drink and tried, unsuccessfully, to flirt with him. He sat up straight in his seat and peered around the crowd of the club trying to spot her face, but to no avail. He became a little worried, wondering if something worse than a black eye happened to her. The men around him erupting into a roar as a new dancer took the stage. Enjolras had to do a double take as his eyes fell on Éponine who was taking the stage wearing a small silky looking red robe. So she was a dancer now.

He was well aware promotions happened all the time, and that in clubs like these waitresses would often become dancers for an increase in tips. But as he studied her forced smile and distant eyes, he got the impression that the stage was the last place this girl wanted to be. She turned her back on the crowd and lifted her hand in the air, slowly moving down to rub over her body as the moving started. Her hips started to sway and he noticed her hands starting to untie the robe. His eyes promptly dropped down to look at the table as whistles and hollers filled the club. He brought his hand up to his mouth and just waited until the music started to fade. Once it seemed like her routine was coming to an end, his head rose from his hand and his eyes immediately flicked up to her face. He refused to look at her body, feeling like it would be taking advantage as she clearly did not want to be showing it. Her own bright brown eyes met his and for a second he saw a flicker of shame behind them. It wasn't the charming, confident girl he was encountered the previous week. He let out a breath as he looked over her face and just let his gaze fall back to the table as she finished the last of her dance. A few moments later he looked back up and actually felt a little relief to see her putting back on her robe and shooting the men another smile before exiting the stage.

His gaze followed her as she quickly made her way to the bar where he noticed the bartender give her some kind of a sickening smirk. He downed the rest of the scotch he had ordered and dropped some money on the table for the waitress's tip before heading over to join the petite brunette at the bar.

"Thernadier doesn't like when dancers drink on the job," Monteparnasse mused as Éponine downed a second shot.

"Do I look like I care?," she replied with a glare causing the man to simply laugh.

Enjolras cleared his throat as he reached the bar, both sets of eyes flicking over to look at him. The girl rolled her eyes and downed another shot and the bartender perked his eyebrow in curiosity.

"What are you doing here?," she questioned, looking around to see if he was alone. A glint of relief in her eyes when she saw that he was. He didn't bother to answer, he just pulled out his wallet and displayed a hundred note euro to the two of them. Monteparnasse looked like he couldn't contain his chuckle and Éponine's gaze fixated on the money before looking up at Enjolras.

"This is enough for a private dance, right?" Enjolras finally spoke breaking the silence that had fallen between the three of them.

"More than enough," Monteparnasse answered taking the money from the blonde's hands, "It's only seventy-five, but I'll get you change."

Enjolras nodded and looked at the brunette in front of him who looked nervous and sad by this turn of events. He didn't feel insulted by her seeming disappointment, he couldn't imagine anyone being really ecstatic to be paid to grind on stranger's laps. Monteparnasse handing Enjolras his change and then looked between them with an amused expression.

"Good luck," he said to Éponine in an almost mocking tone, resulting in soul shattering glare from her. He only laughed again before looking over at Enjolras, "Be good to her. It's her first night."

"Éponine rolled her eyes before taking Enjolras's hand and leading him away to the side of the club where the private booths were hidden behind curtains. She opened the curtain for him with a smirk, her eyes flicking over to her father who had taken notice of the situation. She placed the 'In Use' sign and closed the velvet curtain behind them. Enjolras took a seat on the booth and looked up to see her staring down at him with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned with a small hiss. She knew he didn't like the club and noticed that he barely ever paid attention to any of the women's bodies.

"Well I thought I was getting a dance," he tilted his head, an indifferent expression on his face, "Not an interrogation."

She let out a scoff and turned around, peeking out from behind the curtain to see that her father was still paying attention to the booth. She saw him talking to Monteparnasse and gesturing over to them, probably making sure Monteparnasse kept an eye on everything. Not for her benefit, but to make sure she was satisfactory and not difficult. She internally groaned as she heard a throat clear behind her. She didn't have much of a choice at the moment, so she just closed her eyes and listened to the music letting her hips start to sway in time.

Enjolras leaned back in the booth seat and observed her movements with a studying gaze. She had rhythm, he gave her that. He took in a breath as she untied her robe and let it drop to the floor, revealing her small leather outfit that he refused to take notice of before. He eyes appreciated the curves of her body. No, he didn't usually care about things like this but he'd admit she was aesthetically pleasing. He watching her hips as they moved to the music but let his gaze drop as she bent over to expose her ass in what he was sure was a seductive manner. Her hands slowly trailing down her legs before she quickly whipped her head up and her hair flowed through the air before landing on her shoulder. She finally turned around, gaining the courage she needed to face the situation at hand.

"How old are you?," he asked looking up at her face as her hands slid down her body and started to undo her skirt.

"18," she answered simply, removing the leather skirt and throwing it to the ground. He glanced down at her newly revealed lacy black panties for a split second before looking back up at her face. Her eyes were mischievous and she wore that same charming smile he noted from the week before.

"When was your birthday?," he continued his question as she slid down into his lap, a leg on either side so she could straddle him.

"Small talk really isn't necessary," she replied ignoring his question.

"But I thought interrogation was acceptable," he perked an eyebrow at her and his hands instinctively moved to hold her hips. Éponine let out a genuine chuckle much to her own surprise. Her hands ran up his chest which was covered with a black button up that had it's top button undone a little bit, revealing some tuffs of chest hair. Her hands slid back down as she leaned back in his lap, exposing her entire torso him and rolled her hips against his. His eyes fluttered shut at the feeling but he willed his body not to react to it.

She slowly brought her chest back up to his and sat up in his lap. With a deep breath her hand moved behind her. His eyes opened and he noticed what she was going to do as well as the returned of that distant look in her eyes and the shakiness of her arm. The confidence that she had worn barely two seconds ago was gone as she now hesitantly reached to undo the leather bra. To her own surprise, she felt his hand on hers stopping her hand from achieving it's goal. Her eyes flicked to meet his blues ones while she wore a confused and curious expression.

"You don't want to," he stated with that stoic face of his as he pulled her hand back down to her side, "So I don't want you to."

Her hands lightly rested on his torso, just above the waistband of his jeans. She stared at him completely taken off guard by his actions. Suddenly she stood up, his hands falling from her hips.

"I think we're done here," she said quickly moving to pull her robe on and picking up the mini-skirt she had thrown to the floor.

Enjolras stood up at watched her, "Éponine?"

"Have a wonderful night, Monsieur," she added as she hastily tied up her robe and left the booth.

"Éponine," he followed after her, "Wait a minute..." He was stopped by a hand on his arm that pulled him back a little bit. He turned to see her boss smirking at him.

"Bonsoir Monsieur," he said. Enjolras looked at him and then glanced back over to see the brunette headed for the bar. He didn't bother trying to follow her and instead turned back to face her boss as he started to talk.

A sigh left Éponine's lips as she moved through the crowd to the bar, she was completely unsure of how to feel about what just happened. Everything about this man was just strange and unusual to her. He wouldn't look at a woman's body but paid for a private dance that he stopped. Her steps slowed as she noticed Monteparnasse nod in her direction and Marius turn around to smile at her. For a second she thought about just running, not wanting to face her new friends and them knowing about her new promotion. Instead she took a deep breath and walked over to them, seeing that Courfeyrac and Grantaire were also both there. Courfeyrac was chatting it up with one of the waitresses while Grantaire sat at the bar nursing a drink. She also noticed Bathorel standing off to the side to enjoy the show of the current dancer on the stage.

"Marius," her voice almost sounded nervous, "What are you doing here?"

Courfeyrac, who had instantly took notice of her presence, came over to take her hand in his and gently kissed the back of it like he always did when he greeted her, "We're here to take you out for your birthday."

She tilted her head curiously before giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"We thought you had quite for bit a there," Grantaire said turning around in his seat.

"Yeah," Marius added, "We didn't see you in your usual section."

"Well Messieurs," Monteparnasse spoke up causing all four of them to look over at him, "Éponine got a promotion."

She shot him another glare before nervously shifting from one foot to the other as three sets of eyes looked back at her and settled on the robe she was wearing and the skirt she had clutched in her hand.

"And we missed it," Grantaire asked with a look of disappointment.

"Not all of you," the bartender spoke up again ignoring the warning glare of Éponine, "Your friend caught the show. He seemed to like it enough to get a private dance even." He smiled at his coworker's ice cold glare. Even Bathorel has tore his attention away from the stage for the conversation. She wanted to say something but all their eyes darted to someone behind her.

"No fucking way," Grantaire said with a slightly shocked expression. Enjolras was suddenly standing next to her, his face stoic and expression unbothered by what their friends had realized.

"I didn't know you all were coming tonight," he said simply.

"Clearly," Grantaire finished his drink, "I'm sure the sight was more than wasted on you."

Enjolras didn't react to the statement, and no one added anything else about it. Éponine realized they probably didn't want to say anything that would frustrate the blonde marble statue of a man standing next to her. She was relieved, however, to see that none of them seemed bothered by any of this.

"We came to surprised our girl by taking her out for her birthday," Bathorel said as his eyes flicked between the blonde and brunette in front of him.

"Wait," Enjolras turned to look at Éponine, "_Today_ is your birthday?"

**A/N I am so sorry about the wait for this. Work has been kicking my ass and I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and knock out a huge chuck of the chapters so it's been getting done bit by bit. The next chapter will be a fun one, and a couple after won't be too dark since things are going to get pretty bad as this fic goes on. I asked on Tumblr and I'll ask on here. What song would you like to see Éponine and Grantaire drunkenly sing together at karaoke?**


	5. Chapter 5

"You know, honestly Ep...," Courfeyrac started causing the brunette's gaze to flick from the window to the driver of the care, "And no disrespect, but it's kind of weird to see you so covered up." She couldn't help but chuckle as Marius pointed out that he had said the same thing earlier. She looked down at her less than designer clothes. A plain, white v-neck tee shirt accompanied by jeans with holes in them, not by purpose but by use, and scuffed up boots all topped off by a worn down leather jacket. Judging by what she should tell of them and what Gavroche told her about them, they were use to more glamorous looking girls. Like Cosette. She looked over at Marius who was sitting next to her leaning forward to talk to Bathorel. Nothing had been official between them, but she had thought the flirting would eventually lead to something. What an idiot she was.

"And we're here," Courfeyrac announced and Éponine looked out the window at the Musain. She had personally never been here before, but her brother was here all the time. It suddenly dawned on her that these men probably knew her brother better than her. As she stood from the car, she saw another one turning into the parking lot.

"Damn," Bathorel muttered.

"Pay up," Courfeyrac said holding his hand out to his friend.

"Wait a minute," he the bald one said holding up his hand, "He could still drive away once Grantaire is out."

As a head of blonde hair stood from the car, Bathorel let out a frustrated groan, "Damn it. I really didn't think he'd come."

"You don't know him like I do," Courfeyrac said with a pleased smile on his face as he took the money from his friend and headed for the door.

"'Ponine," Marius gently took hold of her hand causing a smile to spread on her lips, "Are you coming?"

"I'll be right in," she replied with a smirk, "Just give me a minute." He looked over at the two men approaching them and gave her a soft nod before turning to following his friends inside. As they got closer, Éponine could hear Grantaire mumbling things that Enjorlas was clearly ignoring with a slightly annoyed expression. His eyes flicked over to her and then he turned to lay a hand on his drunken friend's shoulder, interrupting his sentence.

"Go ahead in, mon ami," he nearly ordered. Grantaire simply looked between them and kept walking without another word. She was actually impressed with how much they all seemed to just listen to him, but she needed some answers from this marble man. She gave Grantaire a smirk and watched him walk into the building before turning and narrowing her eyes at the man in front of her.

"What the hell was that tonight?," she nearly hissed, "You hate the club, you didn't even want to be there last week but you show up by yourself and pay for a dance. You barely even looked at my body and you stopped..."

"I wasn't interested in your body," Enjolras cut in. His face indifferent as ever, but his blue eyes bore into her brown ones.

"What?" she asked with a furrow brow.

"I wasn't interested in seeing your body," he repeated himself with a small shrug.

"Then why the fuck did you pay for a dance?," she shook her head with a confused and irritated expression.

"You didn't seem to like being on stage," he answered in a simple tone, "I thought it would give you a break from dealing with some of those men that had their eye on you. We should've just sat an talked for all I cared."

Her mouth dropped a little bit, "...but you let me dance for you anyway."

He shrugged again, "I was curious about something."

"What?" she questioned with a perked eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"How far you'd go," his voice was so calm and he didn't seem to think any of it was that big of deal. It only irritated her more.

"What are you talking about?," she asked but wasn't sure she actually wanted an answer.

He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "You're scared of your boss."

Her eyes widened a little bit at his words, "Excuse me?"

"You're scared of him," he repeated his words again and then continued when she didn't respond, "You were frightened of his reaction to the accident and I'm willing to bet he was the one that gave you the black eye I noticed last week." Her face dropped a bit but he continued anyway, "I know promotions are commonplace, but it was I could tell you didn't want to be up on that stage tonight. It was the truth that I paid for the dance as a way to delay you from have to dance for any of those men, and I use the term men loosely, that were interested your body. I also wanted to see if you'd still dance for me, knowing that I wouldn't really care. I never intended to let it go any farther than it did. I wasn't going to let you expose yourself to me knowing you didn't want to."

"Well," Éponine finally spoke up, "That's just too sweet."

"You don't have to put up with any of that, there are other...," he stopped when the brunette raised her hand to shut him up.

"Stop," she demanded and he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, "First of all, do not pity me. Second of all, my boss does not beat me. I told you last week, shit happens in a rowdy crowd. And last but not least, you don't know me. Okay, Enjolras? You don't know anything about me. Make assumptions all you want, but I asked for the promotion because getting men to pay attention to me if something I'm good at. Of course I had to wait until I was eighteen, my boss was not about to put a minor on the stage."

"You shouldn't even have been working there as a minor," Enjolras interrupted causing her to scoff.

"Maybe not, but it happened so oh well," she pursed her lips at him, "I don't expect a rich college boy to understand this, but you do what you have to to pay the bills. My parents are dead and I'm raising my brother."

She saw anger flicker in his eyes and now he let out a scoff. His reaction of emotion surprising her a little, "You should remember that you don't me either, Éponine, no more than you know me. I was only trying to help..."

"You weren't trying to help me," her voiced raised a little when she cut him off, "You're the leader of a group of activists. You were looking for another cause to fix to pad your credibility. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there's nothing to fix here. I'm happy with my job."

Something like amusement replaced the anger. which pissed her off even more, "If you say so. Maybe I am wrong, but you should know that you're not nearly as good a liar as you think you are. I'll just stay out of it from now on."

She stood there speechless as he walked by her and over to the entrance of the Musain. He turned around and cleared his throat causing her to look over at him, "Seeing as how it's your birthday celebration, I think you should come inside." She let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes, walking up to the door in an annoyed manner. She met his eyes for a short moment before entering the building, his expression had returned to being stoic but she swore she saw a smirk play at the ends of his lips as she walked inside.

As she entered the Musain, her mouth dropped again but this time in pleasant surprise. Any frustration was pushed to the back of her mind as she happily took in the neat and beautiful decorations that were planted all over the building. She had never had a really birthday part before. Sometimes Gav or Azelma would get her a cupcake and put a candle on it, but nothing on this scale.

"Wow," she said with a small smile.

"You like it?," her eyes fell on Jehan who wore a proud look in his face.

"It's beautiful," she walked over and gave him a quick hug completed with a kiss to the cheek, "Did you do this all by yourself?"

"Combeferre helped," he answered. Éponine tilted her head in confession until someone stepped forward and gave her a warm smile as he adjusted his glasses.

"That would be me," he announced and walked over to shake her hand, "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you last week. Joly and I had an exam to study for."

Before she could ask, someone raised a hand at the bar. "And that would be me," he said before getting a kiss on the cheek from the waitress who Bossuet was talking to.

"Well it's nice to meet you both," she looked at both of them with a smile before Marius pulled her to the two tables that were pushed together to fit their group. She was happy to be sitting next to Marius, but her eye narrowed as Enjolras sat down across from her. She offered him a fake smile to which he simply perked his eyebrows and smirked.

"Musichetta," Grantaire yelled, "A round of shots please!" Éponine noticed the girl who seemed to be flirting with both Joly and Bossuet hop down from her seat and walk behind the bar to retrieve a bottle of liquor and a bunch of shot glasses. When she returned, she passed out the glasses and took one for herself as she sat down on Joly's lap.

"She's with both of them," Courfeyrac explained leaning over Marius, "Joly and Bossuet."

She nodded and smirked, "Cool."

Grantaire took it upon himself to fill up all the shot glasses, even one for Enjolras which caused everyone to look over at him as he spoke with Combeferre about something.

"Grantaire," he said as he looked up at the man holding the bottle, "You know I don't drink."

"Come on, Apollo," Grantaire replied, "This is a party."

"My party," Éponine added sliding one glass over to the man across from her before taking her own, "I'd like if you join in the festivities. One shot won't hurt."

She gave him a challenging gaze which he perked an eyebrow at before picking up the shot glass and raising in her direction, "Happy birthday." He down the shot shortly followed by the rest of them. Thuds of glasses slamming back down on the table echoed in the building, and Éponine smirked at the blonde, "You need a chaser?" He perked another eyebrow and shook his head causing her to chuckle. The marble man was not what he seemed.

"Another round!," Grantaire yelled standing up and pouring more liquor into the glasses.

An hour and three rounds of shots later, Éponine danced around with Courfeyrac along with Musichetta and Joly. She a bit drunker than the others because of the three shots she had at the club, but felt amazing just dancing around and having fun. Marius was laughing off to the side with Bossuet while Bathorel had found himself a girl to flirt with. Jehan and Grantaire were messing with some speakers up on a small stage.

"Excuse me," Grantaire stood up with a microphone and everyone looked over at him. The sight of the karaoke machine caused Enjolras to let out an audible groan, "I request a song with the birthday girl."

"You're kidding, right," she giggled before letting out a small squeal as Courfeyrac picked her up and carried her over to the stage.

"I'm completely serious," he said as she stood next to him and picked up the other microphone, "And don't act like you don't know the song."

The beginning of Livin' on a Prayer started playing and Éponine let out a laugh and grabbed a shot right from Bathorl, winking at him as she down it and handed the glass back to him. "Alright let's do this," she smiled over at her singing partner. As they started singing, the group was cheering for them, save for Enjolras who sat at the table and shook his head a little bit.

"She's got quite the spirit," Combeferre said sitting next to him.

"That's one word you could use," Enjolras said as he watched the girl jump around happily.

"Is it true you got a lap dance from her?," Combeferre asked.

Enjolras shook his head, "I didn't let her take her clothes off."

"Why'd you pay for one?," his friend pressed causing Enjolras to look over at him.

"She had a black eye last week," the man nodded in understanding.

"You can't save everyone, mon ami," Combeferre said and Enjolras looked back at the girl on the stage. It looked like she was having the most genuine fun she had experienced in a while. She was twirling around with Grantaire as the song hit an instrumental break. A few moments later and everyone else was singing along with them.

"There's more going on there than just her," Enjolras said.

"Oh," Combeferre leaned back in his seat, "This is for an article."

"I don't want to use her to get answers though," he said his eyes still regarding the the girl jumping around in excitement, "I want to help her." As the song ended everyone cheered, and he brought his hands together to clap with everyone else. Éponine giggled and jumped from the stage, using a hand to move hair from her face. She looked over at him and he gave her a small smirk. She ran over to the two of them and leaned on the table breathing heavily.

"Are you two just going to sit here all night?," she questioned before going to pour herself another shot.

"Haven't you had enough shots?," Enjolras asked remembering the three she had at the club on top of those she had during the party.

"It's a party," she said pouring some alcohol into another glass and passing it to him, "So let's have a good time."

They both took their shots and she turned around as Grantaire started to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. She yelled a few cheers for him and joined in the song with the rest of the group. Enjolras perked his eyebrow at Combeferre who just shrugged as he sang along.

"We can't be here all night," he said and Éponine gave him a sigh as she turned back around.

"If you're worried about rides or cabs or whatever," she waved her hand at her words, "I live like two blocks away. We can all sleep there."

She glanced over at Bathorel who was now kissing the girl he was flirting with, "Unless people have other plans for their night."

"All of us?," Combeferre questioned, "Doesn't Gavroche live with you."

"He's staying at a friend's tonight," she answered with a shrug, "Plus he adores you guys. I don't think he'd mind. Now, if you'll excuse me..." She trailed off as she ran back up to the stage and started to sing with Grantaire again.

**A/N FINALLY! Sorry this took so long and the next chapter should be up sooner rather than later. Enjoy the fun while you can, because things will get dark very fast... but there's some fluff and ... other things in the next couple chapters that'll you'll like :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"So," Éponine started as she sat down next to Marius on the couch, "What are we going to do now?" Once the karaoke was over, the group had headed over to her apartment like she had suggested. All except for Bathorel who left with his lady friend a little bit before they did. Courfeyrac also had managed to get the waitress at the club to meet him at the Musain and she came back with them, though Éponine made it clear that there would be no sex on her furniture.

"I brought a party favor," Grantaire announced as he presented a large bottle of whiskey.

"Grantaire!," Musichetta yelled from her lounged position against Bossuet's shoulder, she had spent most of the walk making sure he didn't trip and get hit by a car.

"I put money on the bar for it," the drunkard said, "Relax."

"I think we've had enough to drink," Enjolras said clearly as he settled into the armchair.

"Oh please," Éponine scoffed, "You've barely had any."

There was really any reaction to her words, but he did roll his eyes as Grantaire poured everyone a glass of whiskey. She didn't really understand why he even came back with them and didn't just go home when they all decided to leave. Instead of asking him, she leaned against Marius and cleared her throat, "Again, I ask, what are we going to do?"

"We could play a game," Marius suggested craning his neck so he could look down at her.

"What game?," Courfeyrac asked, prying his attention away from his date who was giggling in his lap.

"Truth or dare?," Grantaire suggested as he handed everyone their drinks.

"Seriously?," Éponine giggled, "What are we? Fifteen year olds at a sleepover?"

"Anything can be turned into a drinking game, my dear," he replied with a perk of his eyebrows, "You choose truth, and you drink. You pass on a dare, and you drink."

"And what if you don't want to drink?," Enjolras inquired peering over at his drunk friend.

"Simple, Apollo," Grantaire answered with a smirk, "You do the dare."

"Alright," the Éponine said sitting forward, "I'm in. Who's first?"

"You are," Grantaire said and she looked over at him with a perked eyebrow and a small smirk which he returned with an evil one, "Birthday girl, truth or dare?"

She gave him a wicked smile, "Dare."

He smiled at her like he had been planning this since the moment they decided to go to her apartment. She narrowed her eyes at him as he went to speak, "I dare you to kiss the marble statue."

Her eyes flicked from Grantaire and over to Enjolras who just let out a sigh, "I'm not playing."

"Everyone's playing," his friend replied simply.

"Come on," Courfeyrac sighed, "You need to have your first kiss eventually." Most of the men in the room chuckled, but Enjolras just rolled his eyes. Courfeyrac gave him an apologetic look but he was too distracted by the brunette who was now standing in from of him.

"Be a good sport," she said taking his drink from his hands and sliding down into his lap so that she was straddling him, and just like earlier his hands slid to hold on to her hips. She brought his glass to his lips, "Just relax." She tilted the glass on his lips letting some of the liquid slide down into his mouth, he took the sip while keeping eye contact with her. She finally pulled the glass away to bring it to her lips and take a sip herself, turning around to set it on the table that was behind her. Éponine licked her lips as she turned back to face Enjolras and looked down at him with a soft smirk. He didn't seem nervous, he didn't seem much of anything. He just looked up at her with that stoic expression waiting for the kiss so it could be over. Her fingers gingerly came up to the underneath of his chin, much like she had done with Marius three weeks prior, and tilted his head as she brought her lips down to his.

At first his lips didn't respond, his mouth was still like he was waiting for her to pull away and accept that as a kiss. She wasn't going to though, and soon she felt his soft lips respond and move against hers. Her hand soon swept up to caress his cheek as his came up to cradle her cheek. Their lips moved against each other's for a few more moments before she pulled away and let her eyes flutter open to meet his intense blue gaze. She let out a steady breath and licked her lips again, part of her wanting to feel his lips against her more.

She leaned back to sit straight up and cleared her throat before turning to face the group that was watching with small expressions surprise, "Well that was _not_ his first kiss." Everyone broke out into laughter, too drunk to noticed how their leader's gaze never left the brunette or how his fingers lingered on her hips as she stood up.

"Your turn, Ep," Grantaire said sitting down with a little chuckle and satisfied smile.

She looked over all of her guest with a mischievous smile, her eyes finally settling on Courfeyrac, "Courf, truth or dare."

His eyes flicked away from the girl in his lap and to the brunette addressing him, "Dare."

Her smiled widened causing him to look a little scared, "I dare you to kiss Jehan." The other man looked up with a surprised expression while Courfeyrac tapped the girl on the back telling her to get up. He made his way over the other man and gently but firmly placed his hands on either side of Jehan's face and brought their mouths together. It didn't look like it had the intensity that her kiss with Enjolras had, but it did look passionate. Both boys released the other and Courfeyrac looked at her with a triumphant expression.

"Your turn," she mused at him as he returned to his seat with his date.

"Grantaire," he roared, "This was all your idea so you get to go. Truth or dare?"

Grantaire chuckled and quickly downed the rest of his glass before looking up, "Dare."

"I dare you to give the birthday girl a lap dance," Éponine looked over with wide eyes and Marius moved over chuckling about fiving them space.

"That's just not fair," Grantaire said standing up, "She'll be judgement my technique the whole time."

"I'm sure you'll measure up to my standards," she giggled as Courfeyrac turned some music on from his phone. She spent most of the dance with her head in her hands laughing along with everyone else as Grantaire danced. Even Enjolras chuckled a bit at the spectacle in front of him before shaking his head and looking down at his whiskey.

"That was wonderful, mon ami," Éponine mused as he stood up, "You're better than me."

He turned around with wide eyes, "Do not lie to stroke my ego."

"What makes you think I'm lying," she questioned.

"Why don't we ask Enjolras," he said looking over the blonde who was now choking on his drink, "Who's better?"

He looked over at Éponine with an unsure expression which she returned with an amused one before clearing her throat and grabbing Grantaire's arm, "They're called private dances for a reason." Everyone chuckled a little but and Enjolras sank back in his seat and regarded the brunette with curious expression. He didn't understand why she would let them believe she actually completed the dance.

"It's your turn, Grantaire," Joly said and his friend looked around and found it's target, "Combeferre. Truth or dare?"

Ten minutes later, Éponine was sitting on the floor eating popcorn while Jehan sat on the couch behind her braiding her hair as they watch Combeferre perform a monologue from one of his books. Everyone ended up being dared to do something. Marius was dared to take off his pants and leave them off until the game was over, Bossuet and Musichetta were dared to switch clothes, Joly was dared to wear Musichetta's bra, so on and so forth. The only person who wouldn't do many dares was Enjolras, who willing took a swig for every pass. By the end of the night, everyone was settling down and Éponine sleepily laid her head on Marius's lap once he had put his pants back on. His fingers played with her hair causing her to hum slightly.

"Who's next?!," Grantaire exclaimed hold up the bottle.

"Grantaire," Enjolras stood up and looked at his friend, "Put that bottle down."

Grantaire sunk down into his seat with a look of disappointment and Combeferre came walking into the living room sipping on a cup of coffee. Enjolras raised his eye but didn't question it, "Clearly the party is coming to an end. We should figure out sleeping arrangements since I don't think any of us are fit to drive." Combeferre nodded in agreement then sat down in the arm chair that Enjolras was sitting in.

"Marius," he said catching his friends attention, the boy looked up at him with a goofy grin on his face, "You should take Éponine to her room."

"Yeah Marius," Courfeyac added from his position on the floor holding his date, "Take her to bed." There was a few chuckles as Éponine sleepily threw a handful of popcorn at him. She let out a groan when Marius started to stand up, pulling her with him. As soon as they stood up, Marius lost his balance and fell back to the couch causing Éponine to fall down but two arms caught her. Marius landed with a loud laugh which Éponine joined in on before looking up to see that her savior was the marble man.

"I suppose I'll take her then," he said and bent to pick her up bridal style causing the brunette to let out a squeal.

"You're strong," she slurred into his ear.

"Thanks," he answered simply as he carried her down the hall and into her bedroom. She let out a small hum of satisfaction when he gently set her down on the bed. He stumbled a little bit and fell on the bed, mentally cursing himself for giving in and drinking at all. As he went to stand up, a hand wrapped on his arm and he looked down at Éponine who now seemed wide awake as she looked up at him. In barely any time, her lips were on his and she was pulling him down onto the bed with her. Any and all inhibitions that Enjolras usually had were muffled by the alcohol in his system and he responded with full force, pulling her thighs up around his waist and letting his hand glide up under her shirt a little. His lips started to trail down her jaw and to her neck, her breathes were heavy and she whispered a name, "Marius." Enjolras froze and all his proper judgement seemed to come back to him. With a frustrated sigh, he pulled her arms off of him and placed them gently down on her chest.

"Éponine, you're drunk," he whisper, "Just go to bed."

"Wait," she muttered as he went to get up again, "Can you just stay... please?"

He had no idea why she wanted him to stay, but he let out a another sigh and removed his jacket and shoes so he could lay comfortably next to her on the bed. She was only awake for a little longer because he could hear light snoring coming from her. Her hand was tightly wrapped around his arm, and instead of risking waking her up he just laid there and let sleep come to him. Part of him just hoping she wouldn't remember what had just happened when she woke up.

**A/N Here it is :) It's a shorter one. The next one will be a good one, I promise you that. Remember... this story is rated M. So enjoy and thank everyone for the support.**


	7. Chapter 7

Éponine grimaced at the light flooding in through her window when she woke up the next morning. With a soft groan she rolled over to escape the light only to roll into another person that was asleep in her bed. Her eyes shot up and she was greeted by the sight of Enjolras sleeping peacefully next to her, his lips parted and his breathing steady. It was probably the most relaxed she had seen him. She relaxed against her pillow as she looked over his features, her eyes closing in slight frustration when she started to remember everything that had happened the night before.

"Oh god," she groaned rolling away from the blonde in her bed, trying not to remember what almost happened last night and why it didn't. She sat up carefully and rubbed her eyes, looking back at the sleeping man once more before standing up and quietly making her way from the room. She let out a big yawn as she walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where she immediately froze at what she saw.

"Cosette?," she questioned and the blonde turned to give her a smile along with Marius.

Combeferre looked up from a book he was reading and offered her a warm smile, "Good morning, Éponine."

"Morning," she replied and he returned his attention to the book in his hands.

"Morning 'Ponine," Marius said with a smile, "Cosette came back to see if she could borrow some coffee and we just got to talking."

The brunette nodded and walked over the coffee pot, "Some consider it rude to invite people into another's home."

"I'm sorry," he offered with side eyes causing her to give him a teasing smile.

"I'm just," she chuckled and poured herself a cup of coffee, "Relax."

There was a soft groan from the floor and they all looked over to see Courfeyrac rising and sitting up to leaning back on his elbows, both his date and Jehan curled up against him.

"Morning all," he said sleepily and looked around the room, "Did Enjolras leave already?"

"I believe he stayed in Éponine's room last night," Combeferre answered before the brunette had a chance.

She shut her eyes and let out a sigh before turning and seeing three pairs of eyes on her, "Nothing happened."

A snort and chuckle came from the most passed out Grantaire who was propped up against the wall.

"She's not lying," came a voice from the hallway. Enjolras walked into view and ran a hand through his hair. He had his jacket in his hand and his shoes were back on, "I passed out when I was putting her in bed."

Another snort came from Grantaire but it soon turned into snoring. As soon as things were quiet, a loud alarm started to go off. Courfeyrac groaned and fell back, bringing his pillow up to his face to shield him from the sound. Both Jehan and the girl were startled away and brought their hands to their ears. Marius held his face in his hands and shook his head while Cosette rubbed his shoulder and tried not to seem to amused by the situation. Combeferre casually brought his coffee to his lips, completely unaffected by the sound. Enjolras merely closed his eyes tightly, but otherwise seemed fine, and Éponine let out a sigh and closed her eyes as well. She had experienced worse hangovers. Musichetta jumped up from her place on the couch and nearly fell onto Bossuet as she grabbed her phone.

"Joly!," she shook him while turning off the alarm, "You need to take me home so I can get ready for work." Éponine watched in amusement as the got both her boyfriends to wake up.

"Oh," Marius said looking at the time on his phone and looking over at Cosette, "I should probably get going so I can get cleaned up before lunch."

"What?," Éponine asked pulling her attention away from the three way pairing and to the couple sitting in front of her.

"Marius is taking me out to lunch today," Cosette answered excitedly and Éponine's jaw clenched a little bit and she offered the blonde a smile.

"Oh," she cleared her throat and nodded, "That's cool." She looked over at Enjolras who was sipping on his own cup of coffee and eyeing her with a curious gaze. She wanted to let out another groan, he probably remembered what happened last night. Everyone was shuffling around and getting up. She said goodbye to Joly, Musichetta, and Bossuet as the woman shuffled her two boyfriends from the apartment in a rush. She welcomed a warm hug from Marius before he left and then stood looking over the remainder of her guests. Courfeyrac, his date, and Jehan were all getting ready to leave too, Grantaire was still passed out against the wall, and Enjolras was angrily talking to Combeferre about something in the newspaper.

"Well since I'm sure everyone will be heading out soon, I really need to get a shower," she looked over everyone, "Does anyone mind?"

Her answer came in the form of a shrug from Enjolras and no one else seemed to care too much. Courfeyrac walked over and picked up her hand to press a kiss against the back of it, "Until next time, Éponine."

She giggled and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, "I'll see you soon, Courf." She gave Jehan a hug and watched them leave before looking over the last four people in her apartment and turning to walk back down the hallway and into the bathroom. She was in the shower a little bit longer than she intended to be, but part of her just wanted to stay in there and let everyone leave. After about twenty minutes she turned off the water and stepped out, drying herself off quickly with a towel before pull on her robe. She combed out her hair and smiled hearing nothing but silence in the rest of the apartment.

As she stepped out of the bathroom, she heard clinking and shut her eyes mumbling a curse. She walked down the hallway and looked into the living room to see Enjolras picking up the glasses that were strewn all over the room.

"What are you still doing here?," she asked, almost startling him. He took a minute to look over her, and promptly look away when he decided her robe was too short.

"Just helping to clean up," he answered stacking the glasses inside each other and carrying them into the kitchen.

"You don't have to do that," she said following him.

"I suppose I'm just one to finish what I start," he shrugged, "Combeferre, Cosette, and I thought it was be nice of us."

"And they just left you here to finish up," she perked an eyebrow at him as he moved around.

"Combeferre left to go study when Joly called him about some rumors of a pop quiz in one of their classes, and Marius came to pick up Cosette," he finally tuned to look at her, if only to see her reaction to the second part of his answer.

"Oh," she shrugged and crossed her arms looking around the room.

"Are you jealous," he asked and her eyes snapped back to him.

"Excuse me?," she seemed annoyed at his question but he just tilted his head as he looked at her.

"You like him, don't you?," she let out a scoff and he stepped towards her, "You called me his name last night."

She went to say something but stopped. Part of her was angry that he brought that up, "Attractions are feelings, but I guess someone called The Marble Statue wouldn't understand that."

He looked amused at her comeback, "Like I said last night, you're not nearly as good at lying as you think you are."

"I seem to have everyone else fooled," she replied, practically giving up any argument that would come from this.

"Clearly I'm not like everyone else," a smirk played on the edges of his lips and they were now barely half a foot away from each other.

"Clearly," she practically whispered as she looked up at him. She wasn't sure why she did it, maybe it was jealousy or maybe just good old hormones, but as soon as she was pulling him down to her by his shirt she knew there wasn't any going back. His lips were still against hers and only responded briefly before he pushed her away with a firm yet gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?," he gasped out, still surprised by her actions.

"Kissing you," she answered sarcastically and he just looked at her with a knowing looking. She leaned closer to him, "You said you were the type to finish what you started, didn't you?"

She moved forward to capture his lips once again, this time his lips instantly reacted and he pulled her closer to him. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but moments later they were barreling into her bedroom and he was pinning her against the now closed door. She was quick to undo his shirt and pushed it off his shoulder, letting her hands run down his chest slowly. Once she started fiddling with his belt, his hands slid up her thighs and pulled them up around his waist, keeping a hand on one as he started to kiss down her jaw and then her collarbone. His hand made it's way up the inside of her thigh and he smiled against her skin at the realization that she wasn't wearing anything under the robe. She let out a gasp and tilted her head back as his fingers started to rub and tease her. Her own hand was between their bodies, pulling off his belt and undoing his jeans.

"I swear," he grumbled as he nipped her neck, "If you call me his name..."

She brought one hand to tilt his head so she could meet his eyes, "Enjolras. I _want_ you." Her other hand slithered into his jeans and grabbed hold of him as she finished her statement. His lips were attacking hers and he carried her to lay her on the bed. He crawled up her body, his hand firmly gripping her thighs as he kissed the inside of them. Her breathing deepened as he got closer and closer to her heat, and with a teasing smirk he passed over the spot and kissed at the bottom of her abdomen causing a groan of frustration to escape her lips.

His hands slowly ran up her body and untied the robe, revealing her body to him. His continued kissing up her stomach and then between her breasts, trailing kisses in a neat line up her neck. One hand slid down and started to rub her, causing soft moans to escape her lips.

"Ep," he breathed huskily into her ear and she nodded as her hand reached over and search the bedside drawer for a condom. She pulled one out and he eagerly took it from her and took mere seconds to slide it on. He pulled on her thighs a little, spreading her legs open more for him, and positioned himself. He leaned on one arm and guided himself slowly into her.

She arched her back and let out a moan as he filled her up, and her nails dug into the skin of his shoulders. As soon as he was fully inside her, a groan escaped his lips and his head dropped to kiss at her neck. His hips started to move against hers, slow at first but soon picking up speed. She was quickly able to match his speed and thrusts, scratching down his back and then digging her nails into his ass while her legs came up to and he thrusted into her even harder.

"God," she groaned arched her back up again, "Enjolras...mmm... fuck." She could feel his heavy breaths against the skin of her neck as each thrust brought them both closer to their climaxes. He was still propped up on one arm allowing him to thrust hard and deep, and his free hand went down the side of her body and then started to quickly rub her bundle of nerves, causing her to go over the edge. Her nails dug in harder and she let out a loud moan, her legs wrapping around his waist and pushing him even deeper inside of her. With one last deep thrust, he reached his own climax and moaned out her name. His hand nuzzled into her neck and they both were breathing heavily as they came down from their highs.

Enjolras rolled off of her and removed the condom then laid there in silence for a couple minutes before Éponine started chuckling. He looked over at her feeling insulted.

"No," she said when she saw his face, "Trust me, there was nothing about that to laugh at."

He perked and eyebrow and smirked, "Care to share your train of thought then?"

She rolled over on her side and faced him, "All your friends think you're some kind of virginal ken doll."

He shrugged a little, "I keep my private life to myself."

"And the jokes never bother you?," she questioned trailing a finger up his arm.

"Why should they?," he replied simply, "I know the truth."

She kissed the skin of his shoulder and the looked up at his face, "Maybe we should just keep this between us."

He looked over and met her gaze, "If that's what you would like."

"I think it would be best," she said quietly.

"Meaning you don't want Marius to find out," his words stung her a little bit and she sat up, pulling her sheets up to her. He sat up too and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to pretend with me, Éponine."

She let out a sigh and turned to face him, "I'm not ashamed of what just happened, and I'm not scared of Marius finding out." He perked an eyebrow, but stayed silent and let her talk, "Imagine how distracted your friends will be if they found out your not a ken doll." She smiled teasingly at him, but the truth was her father was be pissed if he found out that she was gave it away for free when he's planning on making money off of her. He had a rule with his girls, no boyfriends just clients. Once her father brought in a dancer's boyfriend and offered him a discount when he found out she had one. The thought made her cringe and the she suddenly felt disgusted with herself, but tried her hardest not to make it seem obvious.

His eyes were narrowed at her for a moment, he knew that wasn't it but always didn't want to push, "I suppose your right about that."

"Of course I am," she chuckled and ran a hand through her still damp hair, "I probably have to get another shower now."

Another smirk played on his lips and he ran his fingers up her spine, "Do you think you'll need any help in there?"

**A/N This took a while, and I don't know why. Yes. Look. Sex! I got some seriously writer's block and lack of inspiration during this, but I think it's because this is the last chapter before things really start to take off. Anywho, enjoy and there will be another update asap.**


	8. Chapter 8

"He gave you the day off?," Gavroche sounded surprised as Éponine chuckled into the other end of the phone.

"He must be feeling generous today," she said as she stood from her car, "I have been working full shifts every night."

"Yeah," her brother mumbled, "Maybe he's nicely found you a client."

"Gav," she said in a warning tone knowing that he was calling from Courfeyrac's phone.

"They can't hear me," he said anticipating her thoughts, "And you know I know about these things."

"I'm not going to be that kind of dancer," she answered simply, "I told you that and I told him that."

"Yeah because our father usually cares so much about what we want," he said unconvinced.

"It's nothing for you to worry about, Gav," she muttered as she trudged up the stairs.

"Right," she could practically hear his eyes rolling as she got to the landing that led to her hallway. As she her hand went for the door knob, her eyes caught sight of something on the other side of the window in the door and she froze. Cosette and Marius were standing in front of her door, smiling and holding hands. Éponine was well aware that their first date had gone well, she head all about it from both of them. It just hadn't quite sunk in yet, not until this moment as their faces drew close together and her mouth dropped at the sight. Right before their lips met she turned away and rushed down the stairs.

It felt like her heart was pounding and there was a lump in her throat. This must have been why she hadn't seen much of him in the past week. Everyone had come in to visit her at one point or another. Except for Marius. And Enjolras.

She sighed into the phone she forgot she was holding and shook her head at the loud voice saying her name, "Sorry, sorry, I'm here."

"What happened." her little brother's voice was like an echo with all the thoughts swimming through her mind. Most of them were about Marius, but for some reason Enjolras was a constant thought in the back of her mind. They hadn't seen each other since the day after her birthday, hadn't spoken. He left her apartment that day with what seemed to be a mutual understanding that what happened would stay between them and there would be no repeat performances.

"I just got distracted," she said as she left the building and walked quickly over to her car, "Hey, who is all at the Musain other than you and Courf?"

"Uh..," he trailed off while he was probably looking around, "Combeferre, Bathorel, and Enjolras."

The mention of his name made something click in her head and she made a decision right there and then, "Well I'm on my way, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because they're my friends now too and I have the night off," she said simply as she got in her car.

"Éponine, what's wrong?," her brother persisted and she rolled her eyes.

"I've got to go," she muttered instead of answering, "You know, not safe to be on the phone while driving."

She heard him begin to protest but hung up immediately and started the car, taking off towards the direction of the Musain. She spent the whole drive trying to erase the mental image that the couple had engrained in her brain. Marius was now seeing Cosette and the thought made Éponine's stomach turn. Minutes later she rushed into the Musain and took sight of the five boys. Bathorel was texting away on his phone but looked up to give her a greeting nod. Combeferre looked up from his book and gave her a smile. It wasn't until Courfeyrac yelled out her name that the blonde at the far table let his attention drift from the laptop he was typing on. He glanced over at her, those blue eyes bearing into her. The last time she saw those eyes, there were looking up at her from between her thighs while her hands knotted themselves in his hair. The memory seemed to send chills down her spine. He gave nodded his greeted and went back to typing, like nothing had ever happened. Like he was suppose to.

Courfeyrac pulled her hand from her side and laid a gentle kiss to the back of it, like he always did, and she gave him a warm smile. Him and Gavroche were sitting at their own table playing cards. She mumbled an excuse me to the two of them and walking over to wear Enjolras was sitting. She leaned foward, steadying herself on the chair next to his.

"Can I talk to you for a second?," she asked in a soft voice.

"Sure," he answered, his eyes never leaving the screen of his laptop.

"Uhm," she cleared her throat and looked around, "In private?"

He turned his head to look at her and then looked around the Musain then back to her to give her a nod of approval. She stood straight and then turned on her heel to walk down the hallway that led to the bathrooms, his own footsteps following closely. Once they were out of sight from the main area she turned around and let out a sigh, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

"What is it?," he asked running a hand through his hair, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she shrugged casually causing him to perk an eyebrow, "I'm fine."

Before he had a chance to question her motived, she reached up and pulled his face down to hers. His lips almost instantly responded to hers as he hands wrapped around her waist. Her own hands moved from his cheeks and down to his chest, clinging to the fabric of his button up shirt. Suddenly he pulled his face back but remained holding her.

"What are you...," she interrupted him with a quiet shush and reached around him to open the door of the unisex bathroom. With a mischievous smirk, she pushed him into the bathroom and wasted no time in following and closing the door behind them. The locked click and then she pulled him back to her, attacking his mouth with hers once more. Not pulling away, one of his hands went up to wrapped itself in her hair while the other clung to her waist. She quickly went to unbutton his shirt and got halfway down before his hands wrapped around hers and pulled them away from his chest.

"Éponine, stop," he commanded pulling away and gently dropping her hands, "We can't do this here. What has gotten into you?"

With a roll of her eyes, she rubbed her hands up his chest. Her fingers skimmed gingerly over his newly revealed skin, "Enjolras, relax." Her one hand slid down to cup his hardening manhood though his jeans. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes flickered shut.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he persisted but made no move to stop her as she started working on undoing his jeans. He simply kept his eyes shut while his hands moved from her hips to rest gently on her shoulders.

"No," she whispered and leaned forward to press a kiss to his chest, "Probably not." Her hand snaked down into his pants and started to slowly stroke up and down his length. She felt him shudder as a few heavy breaths left his lips and warmed her shoulder.

"Éponine," he whispered in a warning tone as she kissed up his collarbone and neck, "Please..."

She leaned back and looked up at him, meeting his slowly opening eyes that were darkened by lust, "What?"

It was a whispered dare. He searched her own desire-filled brown eyes through his hooded ones. They were challenging him, teasing him, daring him to take the risk. His lips parted as her hand continued its motions. A soft sigh of defeated escaped his mouth as his hands moved up to pulle her face to his, attacking her lips with his hungrily. Both her arms came up to wrap around his neck as his traveled down her torso and eagerly pulled her hips to his, his erection apparent through the fabric separating them.

She felt the cold porcelain of the sink hit her lower back and let out a small squeak. Enjolras's hands swept from her hips to her ass and picked her up to set her on the edge of the sink, his lips trailing down her jawline and savoring the hushed gasps escaping her lips as he ground himself against her. His hands moved to removed the oversized tee shirt, separating their body for mere seconds before throwing the shirt on the floor and bringing his lips back to her warm skin. Her hands quickly finished unbuttoning his shirt before running over the toned muscles of his chest. She gasped unexpectedly when his hands crept teasingly up her thighs. Soon enough his fingers rub softly over her clit causing her to whine a little bit.

One hand played with the hair at the nape of his neck as Enjolras's lips kissed down towards her breasts. His hands finally slid up her waist and tucked under the band of her panties. He started pulling them down slowly at first before she arched her back into him and her hips jutted into his, causing her heat to rub against his now throbbing erection, and he was soon pulling them down her legs with as much haste as possible with his own pants falling to pool around his ankles. He continued trailing kisses up and down her collarbone as he put fidgeted to roll on a condom she didn't even notice him retrieve.

Éponine could feel the tip of his length against her core and she wanted to desperately for him to be inside her already. The memory of how perfectly he filled her made her completely forget what drove her to turn to him. The only thing she could think about was how she never wanted him to stop touching her, kissing her, teasing her and how much her body was just aching for him. Her hands clung to his shoulders as he braced himself with one arm on the side of the sink and the other hand gently turned her cheek so he could capture her lips with his. The same hand slid down between their bodies and starting to guide his hard, throbbing member into her. Their kiss broke in a shared, quiet moans as he filled her completely.

His hand slid up to grip her hip as he started to move his own, setting a pace that caused her head to fall back and expose her neck to his soft, warm lips. One of her hands traveled up and knotted into his hair as his thrusts became more powerful. As each hard buck of his hips brought Éponine closer and closer to that edge, she found it more difficult to keep quiet. She leaned forward and bit down on his shoulder to muffle her moans and she heard a soft growl in her ear followed by deeper, harder thrust. Whispered moans of their names filled the air as every thrust brought them both closer to their climaxes. His hand spread out a little bit so his thumb could reach over and start to circle over her clit, her legs tightening around his waist in responses.

"...close," she gasped burying her face in the crook of her neck, "I'm so...close.."

He must have been close to because hips quickened their pace and hit hers with more force. His thumb continued his circular motions almost roughly and his lips traveled back up her jawline to reconnect with hers. He could feel her walls tightening around him and kept delivering hard thrusts, making sure to push his hips hard into hers to push himself as farther inside her. Within moments, her nails were digging into his scalp and shoulders as her body started to shake in ecstasy. Her head fell back one more and she had to bite down hard on her lips to keep from crying out. Enjolras continued his ast pace, letting her ride out her orgasm before joining her with one last deep thrust. His head fell into the crook of her neck and he did his best to muffle his moan. Her head leaned forward a little bit and they both stayed like that for a moment, sharing heavy breaths as they came down from that high.

He finally slid out of her and quickly disposed of the condom before stepping back and pulling his pants up while she hopped down from the sink. He watched her pull her underwear on and tried to think of what to say, the entire turn of events had taken him off guard.

"Where did all this come from?," he asked watching her pull on her shirt as he went to button up his own.

She didn't look at him at first, not wanting to admit she had used him to forget about what she saw outside Cosette's apartment, "I just acted on my urges."

"It can't happen again," her gaze snapped up to meet his, his indifferent expression returning as he shrugged softly, "Not like this, I mean, not here. Someone could've heard us."

She gave him a coy smile and stepped towards him to finish buttoning up his shirt for him, "Doesn't that just add to the thrill of it though?" She leaned forward and softly pressed a kiss against the bite mark she left on his shoulder before making sure it was covered. He exhaled slowly at the sensation and sighed, "I told you, Éponine, I keep these things private."

"I know," she stepped back with a little sigh and ran her hands down his chest to smooth out his shoulder, "Next time I seduce you, it'll be in private."

She saw the amusement in his eyes though his expression didn't change much. He lifted his hand and let his finger gingerly trace down her neck, "You might want to do something about these."

She scrunched her face in slight confusion and turned around to examine the area in the mirror. Love bites were scattered over the side of her neck and as she moved the collar of her shirt, she saw more on her shoulder and collarbone.

"Jesus, Enjolras," she sighed and rolled her eyes at the reflection of his amused expression. She fixed her shirt and pulled her hair to lay over her shoulder, covering the marks on her neck. Her father was going to be pissed, but she could find ways to keep the marks covered.

"What are we going to tell everyone?," she turned around to see him checking the time on his phone and sighed in relief that he wasn't late to the meeting.

"Nothing," she answered walking over to the door, "For all they know we were having a private conversation about something."

He gave her a soft shrug and moved to open the door for her. She let out a chuckle and passed through the doorway, "We'll aren't you a gentlemen? I suppose chivalry isn't dead after all."

She was surprised to see a smirk grace his lips as they made their way back to the main area of the Musain, his hand was pressed softy into her lower back which he dropped as they came into the eyesight of their friends. Her disappointment at the loss of his warmth surprised her a little bit. The contact was casual yet possessive and made her feel unexpectedly safe. Not that she needed him for that, but there was something comforting in knowing he was there.

"You two were gone for a while," Courfeyrac commented as they joined the group. Combeferre, Grantaire, and Joly had now joined them and pushed two tables together so they could all sit together.

"Yeah," Éponine sauntered over to where Gavroche was sitting while Enjolras took his seat at the end of the table, "Sorry to steal your fearless leader away, but apparently I shared something embarrassing with him in my birthday and needed to give him proper encouragement to keep it to himself."

"Must have been quite the encouragement," Grantaire perked an eyebrow.

"Oh it was very detailed," Enjolras added sitting down to look at his laptop. His face was stoic and showed little interest in the conversation as the time for meeting to start drew closer, "Especially the part where she described what she'd do to my testicles if I let anything slip."

"Wait," Grantaire said sitting up on his seat and looking at Éponine, "You think he has testicles."

"For the last time," Enjolras let out a sigh as he started typing on his laptop, "I am not a ken doll." His eyes flicked up to meet her brown ones, she just let out a chuckle at the whole exchange.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Grantaire said defiantly as he leaned back in his seat and brought his beer bottle to his lips.

"I'm worried you'd like that too much," Enjolras responded without looking over at his friend who just looked down with an amused grin. Moments later Jehan walked in with a content smile smelling a flower he must have picked on his way to the cafe. He stopped when Éponine greeted him and looked between her and the flower before leaning forward and sticking the flower behind her ear.

Enjolras greeted his friend but let out a frustrated sigh when he looked at the time, "Where is Pontmercy?"

Éponine bit down on her lip, unsure of whether or not she should answer. Luckily, Courfeyrac spoke up instead, "He's still at Cosette's I think."

The blonde let out a small scoff and let his gaze drift towards the brunette that was avoiding it, "Of course." The double meaning in his words were only understood by her, but she just stared down at her hands and watching him shake his head from the corner of her eye.

"Speak of the devil," Grantaire muttered as he watched Marius approach the door. Everyone greeted him kindly except for Enjolras who eyed him critically.

"You're late," he stated simply.

"Am I?," Marius looked at his phone and sighed, "I lost track at time. I was with.."

"Cosette," Bathorel and Grantaire his sentence for him with teasing tones.

"Seems to be a recurring event," Enjolras said before looking down at his laptop, "You should rethink your priorities, Pontmercy."

The brunette let out a sigh of defeat and took a seat next to Éponine, giving her a warm smile, "No work tonight?"

"No," she shook her head with a smile, "Surprisingly."

"And you decided to come here?," he leaned in to whisper his words, "These meetings are more work than you'd imagine."

"Oh really?," her eyes flicked over to Enjolras who was speaking with Combeferre and Bathorel about the topic of this meeting.

"Oh yes," Courfeyrac leaned forward to join their conversation, "Our work is practically Enjolras's life, and the rest of us believe in the causes almost as much as he does."

Her eyes lingers on Enjolras who seemed to be getting angry about today's topic, the emotion sparking a passionate side of him she hadn't seen from him beside when they had slept together, "So you guys meet once a week and talk about all this stuff?"

Courfeyrac chuckled a little and she looked at him curiously, "We do more than talk, Ep, protests and rallies. Some of us have even spent a night in jail because of it."

"Yeah, and on the week leading up to a protest or rally we meet every single day," Marius added with a exhausted sigh.

She looked between her friends and then back to their leader. He stood up and leaned on the table as he started to talk about an increase in taxes and the cost of medical care. His words were powerful and she found herself admiring the strength in his stance, the power in his voice, and the passion in his eyes. The next few hours were filled with debates, plans, and more speeches. She sat back in her seat, feeling exhausted just listening to it all. Gavroche seemed excitedly caught up in it all, and the men even listened to his opinions on the matters.

"Okay," Bathorel stood up, "Can we please take a break."

Enjolras perked an eyebrow and looked around at the others who almost looked like they needed a break. He rolled his eyes and gave them all a nodd. Bossuet and Joly went to talk with Musichetta. Marius turned like he was about to ask Éponine something but his phone started to ring.

"Oh," he looked at it and stood up quickly, "One moment. It's Cosette."

She leaned back and rolled her own eyes as he stepped out of the building. Seconds later someone sat next to her, his cologne very familiar to her. She bit her lips nervously and looked up at Enjolras.

"You used me," he said quietly and she looked around at everyone who was too busy to pay attention to the exchange.

"What are you talking about?," she asked trying to look innocent.

"Don't insult my intelligence," he sighed and she thought he looked a bit offended.

"Fine," she shrugged, "I used you to distract me. Consider it payback for the whole dance fiasco."

He almost looked amused by her statement, but his eyes seemed to convey something like hurt at the admission, "I thought we were pass that."

"We are now," she answered a small smirk, just wanting him to act like there was nothing going on again.

He nodded slightly and licked his lips, looking around a little like he was avoiding eye contact with her, "Not again."

His words were demand and she wasn't so sure if he meant sex in general or just sex to distract herself from Marius, "At all?"

"At all," he confirmed, letting his eyes flick to meet hers.

His expression returned to being indifferent, and his eyes looked as detached from the conversation as ever. She felt a little bad for using him, but it wasn't like he actually felt anything for her. He was too emotionally detached for feel something for her. Still, he didn't sign up to be a tool for her to use at her will.

"Fine," she agreed, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, "No reason to be sorry, Éponine, I just don't need to be used for physical distraction when I'm busy with more important matters than your emotional stuggles."

His words were almost harsh sounding, but she didn't forget how he was after they had gotten physical. She wasn't expecting a bleeding heart that was jealous or hurt by the idea that she didn't come to him for him but because of another man. It just didn't want to be bothered with things like that.

"Ouch," she said simply.

"It's nothing personal," he said lightly, "it's just that we're planning another protest for next week and _I_ really can't afford the distraction."

She looked up at him and his eyes seemed genuine so she nodded slowly and gave him a smile, "I get it."

"I don't regret it though," he added softly surprising her a little, "Just so we're clear. These kind of things just aren't for me."

"It's fine," she chuckled a little, "I wasn't about to ask you to be my official fuck buddy."

He smirked slightly, "Well, I do hope you attend some more meetings. I'd like to hear your input"

"I'll see what I can do, Mr. Marble," Éponine mused and he looked equally amused until his eyes flicked behind her and at the door. She turned to follow his gaze and watched Detective Javert enter the builing.

"Merde," she mumbled under her breath.

**A/N Woah, I feel like this was a long one. Damn. Well, I suppose it makes up for the wait huh? Sorry guys, I got caught up in preparations for my trip to see Aaron Tveit's show. WHICH WAS AMAZING BY THE WAY. Anywho, enjoy and I'll try and update asap. Next chapter will be another light-hearted one just delving more into the development of e/e's little relationship as well as her friendships with the Amis. Thank you for all the support, I love you guys.**


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